As the nights get longer and days get brisker, the feeling of the holidays descends upon us. And with all holidays come the traditions, reflections, smells, sights and sounds that uplift the season, help us greet the familiar time of year.

This year, musician Jeremiah Lockwood presents a Chanukah record that is sure to become a standard in holiday’s lexicon. A Great Miracle: Jeremiah Lockwood’s Guitar Soli Chanukah Record (due out November 22nd, 2021 by Reboot Records) is a beautiful solo guitar tribute to the holiday.

With heartfelt appreciation of the 1968 classic The New Possibility: John Fahey’s Guitar Soli Christmas Record, Lockwood has sweetly crafted eight songs, one for each night of Chanukah, to celebrate the dancing candlelight with his new, blues-inspired takes on the most beloved melodies of the holiday’s cannon.

From the prayers for lighting the candles to the kids’ songs that are sung around the burning menorah, Lockwood paints the light through the darkness with his instrumental creations.

1. Ritual
2. Al Hanisim
3. Mi Yemalel
4. Al Hanisim Izhar Cohen
5. Maoz Tzur
6. Little Dreydl
7. Drey Dreydl
8. Chanuka Oy Chanuka

This beautifully crafted new album pens on the delicately ornate Ritual and the intricate workings of Al Hanisim and backs those up seamlessly with the more free wheeling pairing of both Mi Yemalel and Al Hanisim Izhar Cohen.

The mazelike gauze of Maoz Tzur is itself then followed by the upbeat and harmonious joy of Little Dreydl, the album rounding out on the immaculately crafted Drey Dreydl, closing on the graceful magnificence of Chanuka Oy Chanuka.

Lockwood’s career has followed a unique path, with deep musical inspiration coming from two mentors. His grandfather Cantor Jacob Konigsberg (1921-2007) infused in him the melodies of the Jewish liturgy, with Lockwood performing in his choir.

Lockwood credits his career as a guitarist to a decade-long apprenticeship with the legendary blues musician Carolina Slim, a.k.a. Elijah Staley (1926-2014), who passed down to Lockwood the Piedmont blues tradition of Brownie McGhee and Buddy Moss.

Lockwood also leads the band Sway Machinery, which features Jordan McLean of Antibalis and at one point Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The Great Miracle is the ultimate realization of both sides of Lockwood’s learning, as he translates the major Chanukkah melodies into a blues language, through his fingers and the strings of his Gibson guitar.

Lockwood is accompanied by guitarist and friend Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi All-Stars on his rendition of Little Dreydl, a song they have been playing together since 2011 at Tikva Records in San Francisco.

Reb Nachman tells of a mystical story around the Dreydl, that it replicates the rotating wheel of creation out of which all things emanate, where the mortal and finite world of human beings meets the infinite.

Jeremiah Lockwood’s great miracle proves that the best way to start the motion of the Dreydl is through the breath of his guitar as he exhales a new soundtrack for the annual eight-day holiday of Chanukkah.

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